Should the Houston Texans pursue WR Mike WIlliams this offseason?
One wide receiver who the Houston Texans should pursue this offseason — if he doesn’t get hit with a franchise tag — is Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams.
Williams was a first-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017, and this past season with Justin Herbert as his quarterback caught for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns on 76 receptions, averaging 15.1 yards per reception.
For his career, Williams has totaled 227 receptions for 3,662 yards with 16 touchdowns, averaging 16.1 yards per reception for his career.
This idea of Williams possibly joining the Houston Texans comes from a FanSided article by Mike Phillips titled “5 Landing spots for Mike Williams in 2022 NFL free agency.” Williams is coming off a four-year, $19.74 million contract.
Phillips in his FanSided.com article wrote the following on Williams, and adding Williams would help the young quarterback Davis Mills, who is entering his second season in the NFL after being a third-round pick in ’21. This past season Mills made 11 starts and played in 13 of the 17 games the Texans competed in:
"“One of the best fits for a player like Williams is a team with a young quarterback that needs a talent infusion at wide receiver. Another intriguing landing spot is Houston as the Texans look to begin a rebuild and will be looking to add younger players with upside to their roster.”"
Phillips is right in saying the Texans’ soon-to-be second-year quarterback needs more at wide receiver to work with. Even more than just more receiver the Texans offense as a whole — including offensive line and running back — the offense of the Texans needs more spark than they had in ’21.
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What will also help that is head coach Lovie Smith named Pep Hamilton the new offensive coordinator of the Texans when he took over as head coach. Last season, Hamilton was the QB coach of the Texans, and he also has previous experience as an offensive coordinator as Hamilton was the OC for the Indianapolis Colts, coaching Andrew Luck.
So already having one season with Mills, then the possibility of adding Williams to an offense that needs more wide receivers, this isn’t such a bad idea. Remember in ’19, Williams led the NFL in yards per reception at 20.4 as that was his first 1,000-yard season of his career.
This past season was Williams’ second time having a 1,000-yard season, but for his career he has 227 receptions for 3,662 yards and 26 touchdowns. Also for his five-year career Williams is averaging 16.1 yards per reception as he caught 57.8 percent of passes that have gone his way.
If the Texans don’t trade Cooks and were to be able to have the opportunity to add Williams in free agency, then still have Nico Collins still learning at the NFL level, that could really work for Mills and the Texans offense.
This would also allow the Houston Texans to use day one and day two picks on players other than wide receiver, which would help the front office and Smith repair the defense, which would help the Texans’ offense become a better unit too.
Again, this idea from the FanSided article is a solid idea. Now it is time to wait and see if not only Williams becomes available, but if the Texans are willing to sign a wide receiver coming off a career season in receiving yards.